Restaurant betting on bacon

Published: Thursday, February 28, 2013 at 12:19 PM.

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You bet your bacon they do. Provided you’re dining at the Bacon Inc. Bar and Grill in Gastonia.

There’s no hidden meaning behind the new restaurant’s matter-of-fact moniker. As the powerful aroma suggests, they squeal for crispy swine, all the time.

“I don’t think there’s any doubt what we’re about when you walk in the door,” said owner Steve Gamaras.

The business is the new incarnation of Flip Flops Grille and Spirits, a four-year-old operation that Gamaras recently bought and rebranded. He held his grand opening last Friday at 3908 E. Franklin Blvd., after realizing no one else in the Charlotte region had begun wallowing in a similar concept.

Gamaras said it’s hard not to notice the nationwide obsession with the treat that comes from the belly of the pig. His idea sprang from years of personal research.

“My mother was from southern Georgia and, trust me, we had Southern cooking and bacon was a big part of it,” said Gamaras, a Charlotte native who now lives in Cramerton. “My mom used to complain I could eat a pound of bacon in one sitting.”

You bet your bacon they do. Provided you’re dining at the Bacon Inc. Bar and Grill in Gastonia.

There’s no hidden meaning behind the new restaurant’s matter-of-fact moniker. As the powerful aroma suggests, they squeal for crispy swine, all the time.

“I don’t think there’s any doubt what we’re about when you walk in the door,” said owner Steve Gamaras.

The business is the new incarnation of Flip Flops Grille and Spirits, a four-year-old operation that Gamaras recently bought and rebranded. He held his grand opening last Friday at 3908 E. Franklin Blvd., after realizing no one else in the Charlotte region had begun wallowing in a similar concept.

Gamaras said it’s hard not to notice the nationwide obsession with the treat that comes from the belly of the pig. His idea sprang from years of personal research.

“My mother was from southern Georgia and, trust me, we had Southern cooking and bacon was a big part of it,” said Gamaras, a Charlotte native who now lives in Cramerton. “My mom used to complain I could eat a pound of bacon in one sitting.”

Gamaras operated Boulevard Beer and Ice on Garrison Boulevard before it closed several years ago. In 2012, he was one of the partners who opened PlayersCasino, an Internet sweepstakes gaming center and entertainment venue, in a former Franklin Square restaurant.

His plan was to incorporate the bacon theme into the food offerings there. But the business had to shut down in December after the state Supreme Court ruled sweepstakes gaming machines are illegal in North Carolina.

Gamaras went with the flow, buying Flip Flops and hiring Heather Belcher, an experienced general manager, to run it. He has about 14 total employees now and has renovated the inside to fit the restaurant’s new scope.

“We repainted the place black and burgundy, which in my mind gives you that bacon feel,” Gamaras said.

‘Everything tastes better with bacon’

Their next step was to build a menu around that most beloved pork product.

“You’d be surprised how many bacon-based recipes are out there,” he said.

Not everything on the menu contains the star ingredient. The chicken wings are standard, and a couple of the salads are free of bacon bits or crumbles.

But those are the exceptions.

There are bacon-wrapped pickles, shrimp, mushrooms, jalapenos and even hot dogs. The meaty strips are featured on several sandwiches. And then there are the burgers, made with a secret recipe that includes equal parts ground beef and ground bacon.

The 1- or 2-pound Stuffed CPR Burger kicks it up a notch. The diner can throw health consciousness to the wind by having one or two patties stuffed with cheese or any other filling they like.

“Our burgers are by far the biggest hit,” said Gamaras.

More elaborate offerings, such as the bacon-wrapped Moon Pie dessert, aren’t on the official menu yet. But that and other newcomers will be appearing in the near future, Gamaras said. Since opening, he’s been trying out other creations, such as bacon-wrapped Snickers bars, and giving away samples.

Gamaras plans to offer live entertainment occasionally on Friday and Saturday nights. He said business has been sizzling in the last week, and Bacon Inc. Bar and Grill’s Facebook page had secured almost 700 “likes” as of Tuesday.

While he isn’t sure how public health leaders feel about his venture, he believes he’s giving the customers what they want.

“Until some legislation passes that tells me I can’t do it, I’m going to keep it up,” he said.

You can reach Michael Barrett at 704-869-1826 or twitter.com/GazetteMike.

All you wanted to know about bacon:

- Bacon originated in China

- It’s one of the oldest preserved meats in history. People began salting and preserving pork belly as early as 1500 B.C.

- 62 percent of U.S. restaurants have bacon on the menu

- More than 1.7 billion pounds of bacon are consumed in food service every year in the U.S.

- International Bacon Day is celebrated each year on the Saturday before Labor Day

- A 200-pound pig produces about 20 pounds of bacon

- Seventy percent of U.S. bacon consumption occurs at breakfast

- An artist recently used real bacon crumbles to create a bust of actor Kevin Bacon

- In September 2012, the National Pig Association of the United Kingdom triggered a minor uproar by stating that a world shortage of pork and bacon in 2013 would be “unavoidable”